Merry Planter: How To Get Kids To Enjoy Gardening
Photo: Merry Planter
Kids have never heard of "green thumbs" but are natural gardeners - for about two minutes. Without a little prompting, they will easily forget to take care of the plants. How to get kids to enjoy gardening, and keep watering until the tomato or beans are ready for harvest?
The good people in Mie prefecture, western Japan had this bright idea: attaching a photo of each young gardener to its Merry Garden Planter pots seems to do the trick. Kids love the idea of caring for these plants, once they know which one belongs to which sprouting farmer. All smiles, as far as we can tell!
Photo: Merry Planter
Media is infatuated with this simple idea, and already major newspapers like the Nikkei and Yomiuri have featured the project.
Merry Planter also debuted at Earth Day Market in central Tokyo, with lots of happy faces.
Photo: Merry Planter
Minami De Co. sells these pots as kits with coconut peat, an environmentally-friendly material, that they claim reduce the need for water by 90%, and has other positive effects like CO2 reductions. They also promote it as perfect for veranda or balcony gardens, if you live in an apartment or don't have access to land.
With a looming food crisis, I'd say now is a great time to start learning how to feed yourself and your family, and what better way to explain difficult issues like peak oil and the effect it will have on our food supply? Get the kids involved!
Photo: Merry PlanterMore on organic gardening:Feeling Broke? Plant A GardenHow to Go Green: GardeningEat the View: Tax Breaks for Gardens'First Locavore' Michele Obama to Oprah: Veggie Garden Coming to White House LawnSign The Petition For The White House Organic Farm Project!
Written by Martin Frid at greenz.jp
